Memento Mori
by A. Cullen
Summary: Life was fleeting in the Silver Millennium, but this is a look at how our heroines and heroes might have learned to be friends, lovers and protectors. A character driven study, a little different from traditional SM tales. Firefly solo project.
1. Chapter 1

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

* * *

**Memento Mori**

by Firefly-Shy

"We were dreaming of this planet. Longing for it. Looking over it." - Princess Serenity

* * *

The queen, with a loving hand, calmly stroked the fair head of her weeping child. The darkness of the princess's bedchamber was broken by the soft azure beams of the reflective Earth that swirled so silently in the deepness of space - just outside the princess's window.

"What is it this time, sweetheart?" she murmured.

The little girl pulled her face away to look up into her mother's ageless, crystal blue eyes.

"I had another dream," she sniffed, "I dreamed that the darkness came and tried to eat me and all the others. And - I couldn't find you anywhere. I felt so alone."

"Remember what I said?" the Queen asked, softly.

"About the light?" Serenity replied in a shaky voice.

"Everyone has a light inside them," the Queen and her daughter quoted in unison.

"And, every tear, every fear, only encourages the darkness to grow." Her mother finished. Serenity nodded in agreement.

Queen Serenity tucked her child more securely into her arms and rocked her for a few moments, allowing Serenity to have her cry.

This was the seventh week that the child had woken with a nightmare of darkness.

The Queen had endured similar nightmares for some time - her visions of the an approaching shadow had been poured over carefully in the light of day. She had shared these visions with colleagues, the dark eyed priest of Mars had illuminated them as best he could - but the dreams remained insubstantially ambiguous.

Tonight she prepared to go to the forbidden gate, to seek some answers. But first -

"Let me tell you a story, alright?" she asked her daughter who was now quiet against her shoulder. The little head nodded, sighing contentedly as her mother stroked her back.

"Once, a very long time ago, there was a princess who ruled over a wonderful kingdom," her mother began, "And all the people loved her."

"She was very beautiful?" Serenity put in.

Her mother smiled, "Indeed, and she never grew a day older. She was immortal."

"Like us," Serenity whispered.

"Yes," her mother confirmed, smiling with her wistful eyes, "Just like us. But in other lands the people were mortal, and they grew old and changed like the seasons do on Earth, like butterflies."

"Mortal," her daughter repeated to herself, already being lulled by the dulcet tones of her mother's voice.

"While walking by the sea one day, the princess looked down from her kingdom and saw a handsome young man walking by the sea of his world. She was so startled and entranced by his beautiful form and kind face that she wrapped her cloak around her and flew down to him. Of course, she startled him quite a bit," the Queen added, with a wry grin.

"But by and by they talked and she learned he was a prince. She continued to visit him and soon they fell in love - and when they told each other, their joy was very great. But their happiness was short lived."

"What happened?" Serenity asked, her tired little voice almost inaudible.

Her mother's face grew sad.

"The prince and the princess lived many happy years together, but eventually the prince grew old. And though the princess still loved him very much, he was ashamed of his mortality and forbade her to visit him anymore. He decreed that no one from their worlds was allowed any kind of contact from that day on - because he knew the sadness he had inflicted on the princess and did not wish anyone else to suffer from it."

"And one day, the old prince died and the princess became Queen of her world and mourned his loss heavily. But because she was immortal she could not follow him."

"So sad..." Serenity murmured, and her mother gently put her back into her bed and pulled the warm sheets close around her. Then she knelt beside the bed.

"It's true that it is sad," she whispered, smoothing the curls from her daughter's face, "but before the old prince died, the Queen had given birth to a beautiful girl and her child brought her a great deal of comfort and love, so that in time she did not feel lonely or pained at all."

The queen stooped to lay a light kiss on the child's cheek. She paused for a moment to listen to her daughter's deep, steady breaths and watched the little fists clutch and relax against her pillows. Then she stood and wrapped her cloak around her, vanishing into the darkness of the room.

* * *

"Who dares to approach the forbidden gate?" A deep, melodious voice called.

"It is me, Pluto. Queen Serenity, bearer of the Imperium Crystal."

In the dark fabric of space and a place between space a shadowed figure grew pronounced and with a flash of light the Queen was able to see the mysterious, fabled Guardian of the Underworld standing before her - her orb in her hand.

"My Queen," Pluto spoke, her eyes heavy with solitude and her voice husky as though she hadn't used it in a hundred years.

"I've come with a question," the Queen said, lightly, "I was hoping you could help me."

Pluto's face didn't reveal any particular emotions - surprise or suspicion seemed equally absent - she merely inclined her head.

"If I can help you, my Queen, I certainly will."

"Thank you, my friend." The queen said.

It was hard to tell who was older - both the Guardian and the Queen looked to be similar ages, quite youthful still and beautiful. But where the Queen was pale, and delicate as a beam of moonlight, Pluto was dusky as night. The Queen had lived for so long that she no longer remembered the names of all the guardians and Senshi she had met and known - most of them died so quickly, compared to her endless life span their lives were like an instant. But when she looked into the eyes of the only other immortal who was not born on the Moon, she felt a vague sense of understanding. They both knew what loneliness was.

"What is your question?" Pluto asked, quietly, "I heard you telling the princess a story just now. I like to listen to them too."

The Queen looked a bit surprised at this admission.

"I didn't know you listened to us, Pluto," she said, "I hadn't realized."

Pluto waved away her thoughts with a graceful hand.

"Sometimes," she said, her garnet eyes resting on some unseen world beyond the Queen's vision, "I like to listen to the outside worlds - your's especially. I like the young princess very much."

"Do you ever wish you could leave, Pluto?" The Queen asked, not knowing what she said. Where had the question come from?

Pluto gazed at her with an impenetrable expression.

"Sometimes," she murmured, "I...speculate...about the things I haven't experienced...but such speculation is -"

She looked with quick and sudden meaning at the Queen.

"Useless."

Queen Serenity felt an ache tug in her heart.

"It's true," she said, in a subdued tone, "Some things are useless to speculate, and can only bring pain."

"What is it that you wanted to know?"

The Queen took a deep breath and pulled her thoughts away from bitter-sweet memories.

"I have had a dream now, for quite a long time, about a darkness - a shadow - that lurks in men's hearts and minds and tries to devour the world. What does it mean?"

She watched in silence as the Time Guardian seemed to ponder her words carefully, sifting through them like colored glass marbles in her mind.

"I am not sure," she spoke at last, and her eyes were darker than before.

"But I think that there is a battle coming - something that will threaten the thousand years of peace."

"Death must always follow life - rebirth must follow death." The Queen murmured under her breath.

Pluto nodded.

"Have the princess's guardians been chosen?" the time guardian asked, almost idly.

"Not yet," the Queen answered, promptly, glad to be back to easier subjects, "But the scheduled time for that is not near. Serenity is still only a child - but when she grows a bit more we shall certainly set about to finding the new Senshi."

Pluto nodded again, still pursuing her own thoughts that wove around her head like cloudy dreams.

"I think that the time is changing," she said, vaguely, "There will be things unheard of before, but they must be allowed to happen. Change is necessary."

The Queen frowned at her words but committed the warning to heart.

"I will not stand in the way of change, but," she faltered, "I hope that no harm will come to Serenity or my people as a result of these changes."

"What will be will be," Pluto replied.

The answer weighed heavily in the Queen's heart. It seemed to her, that, no matter how hard she wished for happiness for those around her, fate seemed determined to upset her wishes. It was hard to go against fate - almost as hard as going against nature - an impossible task.

She thanked Pluto and turned to go, to leave the in-between world of gates and to leave the gate keeper alone once more in her eternal solitude.

"My, Queen."

Serenity turned, a bit surprised, to find Pluto watching her with an odd, wistful smile.

"Follow your path without fear," she said, and her voice was the voice of a young woman - uncertain, but brave. Her words echoed in the Queen's ears, and she felt as though a small hot light began to glow within her - very small, but very warm. She saw the light reflected in the other woman's eyes and realized it was hope.

Queen Serenity smiled.

"Thank you, Pluto." She whispered and watched the other girl's eyes steadily fixed on her face as she wrapped her cloak around her and disappeared.

* * *

A.N. This story, as you can tell, is set in the Silver Millennium. It isn't a sequel or prequel to any of the other stories. It was inspired mainly by some Takeuchi's discarded ideas and in a few places it will blaze a trail off the beaten path of Silver Millennium stories (I hope). Though it isn't a romance, there will be some romantic interludes between Endymion and Serenity, obviously, and perhaps a bit between the Senshi and Shitennou - but that isn't the focus of this story. I hope it will be different - it might just be odd. But as odd as it is, I hope you will go with it. Thanks.

- F. F.


	2. Chapter 2

**Memento Mori**

Chapter Two

"Anything is possible, if you try really hard." - Ami Mizuno

* * *

"My only daughter..."

The Queen of Mercury, her short, dark hair and usually calm blue eyes dark with grief and pain, stared unblinkingly at the child before her.

"As you see, your majesty."

Her gaze flickered to the tall man, once an attractive scientist - an artist really - now a rather grizzled, desperate looking man. Time had not been kind to the head of Mercury's bio-technological department.

There had been a time when she and this man had been...but that time was long gone.

Her eyes returned to the vision in front of her and she flinched in pain.

Standing before her was the image of her daughter, princess Hermia - a delicate, quiet eyed child, with pale skin and a sweet little mouth. Those eyes were alight with life - such a stark contrast to what she remembered only months ago.

A month ago, her only child had died.

It had been a fever, something she'd caught on her return journey from the Moon Kingdom where she'd been sent to live with the princess, as custom dictated, for exactly two years. The fever had come on suddenly - the Queen, an expert in the holistic field herself, had done everything in her power - exhuasted every resource, every new advancement in technology - she had nearly died herself in working non stop to cure the disease. All to no avail. A month ago to the date the princess of Mercury had died in her mother's arms.

"How is it possible?" The queen murmured, "I thought you hadn't tested the prototypes since the last malfunction with the domestic android."

"That's true, your Majesty," the scientist said, resting a hand on the child's thin shoulder. The Queen noted that the child didn't move or acknowledge his contact in anyway.

"But the truth is that we've made some startling new break throughs in the past weeks...I thought -" he stopped, clearing his throat and adjusting his glasses uncertainly, "I thought this would please you."

"Please me?" she repeated, her voice distant and cold.

She rose in one fluid motion from her throne and crossed to the man and the child. The scientist regarded her with wariness, taking an involuntary step away from her dark glance but instead of rebuking him she knelt in front of the child.

"What is your name?" she asked it.

In her daughter's voice the child replied, "I do not have a name, your majesty."

The Queen caught her breath and put a hand to her mouth, but soon she took it away, composed. She stood.

"You have created an android in my own child's likeness," she said, "And you have done it without my knowledge or consent. I order you to -"

She stopped. She couldn't demand for the android to be destroyed - though that was her first instinct. She looked down at it and it looked back with its calm, serious gaze.

"I order you to take it away and keep it locked away and do not - do not dare to go behind my back again."

"But your majesty, if I might just explain -"

She whirled on him, her infamous calm unsettled at last.

"How dare you?!" she cried in fury, "How dare you make this - this - thing look like my child!?"

She struggled to control her emotions to no avail. But the scientist didn't cower, instead he knelt in front of her.

"I couldn't bare to see you in so much pain," he whispered, and she turned to stare at him, amazed.

"You wouldn't talk, or eat - you were starving because of how much you miss her..." he said, and his voice shook with emotion, "I miss her too."

"That doesn't excuse -" she began.

"No," he agreed, daring to face her eyes, "But this is the only way I can help you. It's the only thing I know how to do. I can't give her back to you - but I thought - perhaps..."

He stopped and she put her hands to her eyes to block out the tumult of emotions. When she finally took her hands away the android child that was her daughter's twin was regarding her with something that resembled concern.

"Does she...can she feel?"

She felt intrigue in spite of herself. The scientist rose slowly.

"I don't know," he admitted, "all her predecessors were made specifically for domestic work and limited human interaction. I'm afraid she's different from anything we've ever attempted before. She can simulate emotion - and she can learn."

"She can learn?" The Queen knelt before the child once more.

"Yes, she processes information at the speed of any of our super computers - but she is also constructed to learn to react to human emotions - to emulate them when necessary, and to react appropriately when they are expressed."

The Queen stretched out a tentative hand to the face that was so like her daughter's, but hesitated to touch the skin.

"May I?" she asked.

The child nodded.

The Queen put her hand to the child's face. She exhaled slowly. Like most Mercurian androids, this one had the same skin grafts that were made to resemble human skin almost exactly - the only exception was that the android's skin could not be torn easily, nor could it be burned or frozen. When she touched the child's ears the android wriggled. The Queen quickly pulled her hand away.

"Did I alarm you?" she asked it.

"No," the child replied, "You tickled me."

The scientist found himself smiling, ever so slightly.

"There are many things," he explained to the shocked Queen of Mercury, "That we haven't quite figured out yet. Most importantly about life - what makes us alive? Is it our bodies, our minds? Our souls? Where is the soul located? What makes her," he motioned to the child who was following the Queen's expressions with an intense concentration, "What makes her any different from us? She has a mind, she has a fully functioning body..."

"But does she have a soul?" The Queen asked. The child held her gaze, questioningly.

"Please," she said, softly, "What is a soul?"

The queen searched the child's face and her own heart for several moments.

"I'm not sure." She replied at last.

It seemed, in that strange moment, that her heart made a decision that she would only come to understand many years later.

"I would like her to remain with me," she said.

"That is," she added, with a look at the child, "If you want to."

"I want to stay with you," the child replied.

The Queen felt something loosen in her heart - something let go and flew away. She reached down to take the child's hand.

"Say nothing of this for now," she informed the scientist, firmly, "I don't want anyone to know. We have only just ended the family's private mourning, the public announcements and ceremony for the princess's - for Hermia's passing have yet to be made."

The scientist nodded in understanding of what the Queen was really asking.

"No one knows about this experiment besides myself and my two assistants."

"Very good."

"Then for now, we will continue your experiment."

She dismissed the scientist who bowed and walked quickly from the room. Left alone with the little child that was not human or machine, she felt that oppressive gloom of the past weeks lessening - if only slightly.

"Let's see," she said to the child, beckoning her to approach her. The child came forward quietly and stood beside the Queen's knees as she sat on her throne.

"You must have a name, little one," the Queen murmured, and reached to smooth the blue hair from the fair forehead. Was it her imagination that the child-machine leaned into her hand, if ever so slightly?

"I shall call you Mercury," the Queen said.

"Mercury," the child repeated. She looked up at the Queen and smiled.

* * *

"Io!"

A young princess, about seven years of age but much taller than a normal seven-year old, stopped on the threshold of her little sister's room.

"There you are," Princess Jupiter panted, "I've been looking for you everywhere."

The red-headed, bright eyed younger princess squealed upon discovery and tried to hide in the mound of stuffed play toys on her pink bed.

"I don't want to go!" she screamed, "I want to stay here and make cookies with you!"

Jupiter sighed and dug a hand into the pillows. Finally she found the little arm that thrashed to escape her and hauled her little sister out of the pillows.

"Io, you can come and make cookies with me as soon as mother has finished making your dress, but not a moment sooner."

Jupiter dragged her sister out of the room and through the hallways to plop her down in front of her mother - the Queen of Jupiter - who was busy making stitches in her daughter's dresses. They would be bridesmaids at her cousin's wedding in a month, and the Queen would not allow anyone but herself to alter the dresses.

"Here she is, mother," Jupiter announced, gently pushing her sister toward the chair. She was surprised when the younger girl flew through the room to land in her mother's lap.

"Really, Jupiter, " her mother cautioned, "you ought to be more careful. You didn't have to push your sister so hard."

"I suppose I don't know my own strength," Jupiter replied, "I'm sorry, mother."

"It's alright, you may go back to making your cookies now."

This sent a relieved Jupiter sprinting back to her private kitchen even as her younger sister began to wail about injustice.

It was nice to be home.

Two months ago she had finished a two year long stay on the Moon during which time she'd spent only a few moments with the princess and the rest with the other planetary princesses - whom she couldn't stand for the most part. The moon princess had seemed nice enough, though a bit of a crybaby. They'd all taken turns scaring her with stories of dreaded shadow monsters that leaped out of mirrors to gobble up princesses who cried too much.

But the other princesses had been insufferable. The Princess Mars - Jupiter remembered with something akin to loathing. The girl was proud and stuck up, and extremely weird. Jupiter had often found her muttering to herself or the pet crows she kept in her room - and she acted as though she was better than the rest of them - just because she was the oldest.

Princess Venus hadn't been much better. She wasn't stuck-up or a prude, but she certainly was bossy. Every game they'd wanted to play, she had to be the leader. It had been she who had gotten them into trouble more often than not with her cocky, half-baked ideas, and it was she who always managed to get out of it and leave the others with the blame. She was also ridiculously air-headed at times and interested in boys, of all things.

Disgusting, Jupiter thought.

And then there was the sickly and prudish Mercurian princess. She had mostly kept to herself, and had made it rather clear that she didn't like the others. Jupiter didn't think that Princess Hermia was proud or vain, but she suspected the girl was weak minded and easily led. She had been timid and non-threatening, but very wishy-washy. Jupiter had tried to defend her from the others, but after a few days of this Princess Hermia had informed her that it wasn't necessary. The child was so quiet and so wraith like that Jupiter wondered at times if she was nothing more than a ghost.

Jupiter sighed as she pounded her cookie dough into smooth lumps. At least it would be another seven years before she had to go back to the Moon Kingdom, and maybe the others would have improved significantly by then.

She could hope, at least.

* * *

The Priest of Mars slapped his grandaughter's wrist with the slim bamboo rod for the fifth time that day.

"You must keep your hands held gracefully, slightly curved, - this is the only way to carry the flame and tongs."

Princess Mars said nothing, but set her painfully straight back even straighter and took a better grip on the tongs.

She wanted to please her grandfather. The Princess of Mars had to be a princess and a priestess - because the blood of Mars combined royalty with daimonic blood - with the blood of the demi-gods. This blood flowed in her veins and manifested itself in her various abilities - her sixth sense, her ability to banish lesser demons and evil spirits, her ability to sense auras and even predict the future.

These auspicious gifts were her legacy and her destiny. And a pain in the ass at the moment.

"Concentrate, otherwise how can you hope to become the Queen you must someday?"

Princess Mars gritted her teeth silently and focused on her projected goal. Passing the sacred fire by tongs from the wood to the ceremonial pyre. She calmed her rebellious emotions and tried again.

* * *

"How do you like this gown?"

The youthful Queen of Venus laughed as she spun for her daughter's amusement.

"It's lovely, mother," her daughter replied, laughing along with her.

"I thought so too, it's sure to catch the eye of the King, dont' you think?"

Venus suppressed a sigh. In her heart she knew her mother's light banter and flirtatious ways hid a sad woman who was in love with a husband who didn't love her back. Venus had watched her mother's endless quest for youth, beauty, allure - anything that might get her father's attention, but all her efforts only seemed to push him farther away. When she dressed to impress him he complained of her vanity - when she planned romantic evenings for him he complained of the cost. He was convinced that the Queen was a vain, silly woman - and Venus had to admit that even she felt her mother's actions were sometimes over the top.

But Venus also knew that her mother understood what it meant to love other people. And her father did not.

"I'm sure father will be very pleased, " she lied.

Her mother's face grew sad for a moment but soon the light look flashed again.

_When I am Queen_, Venus thought, _the man I marry will have to love me._

_It's better to be alone than unloved._

She had inherited her mother's beauty, as well as her cheerful personality - but she also had her father's determination and almost natural ability to lead. The two sides of her personality, similar to the two people so prominent in her life - sometimes seemed to be at constant odds with one another.

She sighed.

But it wouldn't be long before she could enter society and then - finally - she could find other people more her style. Not like the stuffy princess Mars, the outlandish princess Jupiter or the wallflower Hermia. The little moon princess showed some promise; she and Venus had gotten along relatively easily. But even the princess might be a bit boring after a while.

Venus knew excitement lay outside the world of childhood. If only she could unlock the gates of time and leap through to her future self. That was where life really waited.

* * *

**A.N. **I told you it might be a bit weird. The idea to make Ami an android actually came from something I read about Takeuchi's original ideas for the series. She had thought at one time to make Ami a robot - the idea has stuck with me, and I thought it might be an interesting take on the story as well as some of Ami's personality quirks. As for Rei's daimonic heritage - this is something I got from a quote of Takeuchi's in which she says something like Rei has the ability to use 'black magic' or has power over it. I thought it might be fun to take it in this direction. Anyway, thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

**Memento Mori**

Chapter Three

"I promise. We will always be together." - Mamoru Chiba

* * *

A dark haired boy of eleven years paced the floor of the observatory while a boy one year older watched him warily.

"You're going to wear a hole in that carpet, sire."

The boy halted and threw a dark glance in the direction of his supervisor.

"I told you I don't need a nursery maid, Nephrite," the boy commented, "You can go find out what they're up to."

"I would," Nephrite agreed, pushing his hair out of his face, "But I promised Kunzite I'd stay in the room with you. And, frankly, I'm more afraid of his displeasure than I am of your temper."

"Thanks."

Endymion sat on the window ledge and looked out through the telescope into the bright afternoon sky.

"Those usually work better at night, sire."

"I know," Endymion snapped, frustratedly shoving the lens away from his eye.

"I just hate being couped up in here with nothing to do."

"Don't look at me," Nephrite said with a shrug, and continued leaning casually against the door.

"It wasn't my idea to declare a state of emergency today. And, " he added, "I can't help it that we've been in a drought for the last five years and the storm of last night created a forest fire."

"Well," Endymion huffed, "You could at least think of something fun to do while we wait for Kunzite to come back."

The two looked at each other and then, as one, looked at the still figure sitting quietly in the corner with his head buried in a book.

"Zoi, what are you reading?" Nephrite called.

Zoisite didn't look up so Endymion and Nephrite crept closer to the younger boy. When Nephrite was standing directly over him he clapped both hands as loud as he could right over the youngest boy's head.

Zoisite yelped and threw the book into the air. Nephrite collapsed into laughter, and Endymion smiled.

"What did you do that for!?" the younger boy demanded, scrambling to retrieve his book. Nephrite swiped it away from him and held it high over his head, laughing as the shorter boy jumped to get it.

"Give it back!"

"Get it yourself."

"Come on, Neph," Endymion spoke, "give it back to him. Look, he's getting out of breath. If you aren't careful he'll-"

The younger boy crashed to the floor, coughing hard. As Endymion and Nephrite watched in alarm, Zoisite began to draw great heaving breaths, clutching his chest. He slithered to the ground, curling up on his side.

"Now you've done it," Endymion muttered, kneeling beside Zoisite and rubbing his back soothingly as the little boy wheezed.

"This is ridiculous," Nephrite snapped, "How can he ever be a Shitennou when he can't even breath properly?"

"Shut up!" Endymion grumbled, "You aren't helping."

He knew that Nephrite was genuinely worried and felt truly guilty for triggering Zoisite's asthma attack, otherwise he wouldn't have resorted to making the nasty comment in the first place. The guiltier he felt, the meaner Nephrite usually became - Endymion just wished he would make himself useful.

"Don't stand there like a rock, go get help!"

Nephrite glowered down at the little boy in Endymion's arms and strode swiftly out of the room. Within ten seconds of his departure the door to the chamber burst open and a tall, lanky but muscular seventeen year old with white hair entered.

Without speaking, Endymion moved away from Zoisite and allowed Kunzite to bend over the boy. Kunzite was the oldest of all the Shitennou, older even than the crown prince, and, though they would never admit it, the other boys looked up to him immensely. Now that he was here, both Endymion and Nephrite (who had followed Kunzite into the room) felt very much relieved.

Kunzite, his expression barely changing, scooped up Zoisite and carried him toward the door, all the while patting his back gently as the boy continued to gasp.

"Nephrite, stay here with Endymion. And don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

Nephrite scowled and colored slightly, and Endymion merely sighed.

"But -"

"No buts, sire," Kunzite cut in, facing them both.

"We will talk about this when I get back, Nephrite."

Nephrite nodded and turned even redder.

The door slammed as Kunzite walked briskly toward the infirmary with a hacking and wheezing Zoisite staring balefully at the two miscreants over his rescuer's shoulder.

Endymion and Nephrite shared a rueful glance.

"He's going to kill us when he gets back."

"I know."

They sat glumly on the floor of the room and waited for their coming punishment.

* * *

"Discipline." Kunzite said, heavily.

He faced four younger boys - one twelve year old with ruddy brown hair and eyes such a dark purple-blue they were nearly brown; two eleven year olds, one dark haired and the other light, and a very small eight year-old who was showing signs of fatigue in the midday heat.

He sighed. Over the years he knew they would grow into accomplished warriors, but looking at them now it seemed the task he'd been set by the King of Earth was impossible.

Nephrite and Endymion were strong for their ages, though Endymion had more discipline than his friend. Nephrite was too impulsive, and often gave in to his all too irascible temper.

Jadeite, smaller than the other two, was not quite as physically strong, but he had an almost preternatural gift for grasping battle strategies and memorizing combat forms. He was also the strongest academically - Kunzite never had to force him to study like he did with Nephrite and even occasionally with Endymion. Jadeite was also more than capable of standing up for himself against the other two - he could always outsmart them.

And then there was the youngest, Zoisite. The King had chosen the four guardians from the four royal families closest in relation to the throne, and Zoisite was the eldest son of the King's first cousin. Therefore it was tradition for him to be chosen as a guardian, and as a representation of the Shitennou. But the boy was weak in body, suffered from asthma and was usually slightly anemic as well. However, Kunzite admitted, despite his delicacy and tendency to daydream, Zoisite was possibly the most intelligent of the boys - his scores, when he remembered to do his work, were simply astounding. And Kunzite had already discovered that the boy had a amazing affinity for machines and electronics.

Still, he seemed better suited to a laboratory or a library than a battle field.

"Today we are going to review the forms of combat outlined in the 'Study of War' - in particular sword forms."

He heard the mumbled groans and frowned.

"Nephrite, take this sword."

He handed the heavy blade to Nephrite who grasped it steadily.

"Swing in an upward arc, slowly, until you can feel the balance and it becomes a part of your arm."

Nephrite swung a bit awkwardly, experimentally. Kunzite barely kept from wincing as the younger boy slipped and grated his commander's sword against the ground.

He tried to remain patient. Today was the first day they were to try weapons - up until now he had taught them only hand-to-hand combat, which they were all quite proficient at - even Zoisite.

"Hold it more like this," Kunzite interrupted and took the sword to demonstrate. Nephrite took the sword back and copied him.

"Now you try."

Kunzite indicated that Nephrite pass the sword to Endymion. The young boy held it delicately at first, but after a few experimental swings he managed to hold it perfectly.

"Very good, sire," Kunzite commented, pleased. Endymion smiled and handed the sword to Jadeite.

Kunzite caught the slight dip as Jadeite struggled to conceal how heavily the sword weighed his hand compared to the other boys. He managed to hold it right after a few more tries than Endymion.

"Very good."

Jadeite nodded his head, and shared a glance with Endymion. The prince gave him a small smile of encouragement.

Jadeite passed the sword to Zoisite who promptly dropped it onto the ground.

Kunzite ignored the snickers from the other boys as he knelt beside Zoisite, whose face was very red.

"Is it the weight?" he asked, quietly.

The little boy nodded, ashamed.

Kunzite took hold of Zoisite's slender wrist and examined the thin, delicate bone structure and the wiry tendons. The boy would never be able to defend himself well with a heavy, glaive-like weapon like his own sword.

He straightened, picking up the sword easily and gracefully replacing it in the scabbard at his side. He turned on his heel and strode off through the practice yard to the building beyond.

All the other boys turned to look at Zoisite who scowled and blushed.

"Now you've made him mad," Nephrite stated pessimistically.

"I can't help it!" Zoisite declared a bit desperately.

"You just need to work on your strength," Endymion suggested, "You'll get it eventually."

"No, he won't," Jadeite said, calmly, "He's too small to fight well with a sword. Kunzite knows that."

"I can fight," Zoisite said, but his tone was rather watery.

"Don't cry," Jadeite warned him, not unkindly, "It'll only make you embarrassed later."

They all stood straight and were silent as Kunzite returned, carrying a cloth.

They watched curiously as he approached Zoisite again and unwrapped the parcel. On the cloth lay two brightly shining silver daggers, one of which he took while laying the other on the ground. He hefted it experimentally and the boys noted how it flashed in the sunlight - whirling in his hands like a beam of light.

He held it out, hilt first, to Zoisite who picked it up gingerly.

"Try this and see if it feels better," he told the little boy.

Zoisite balanced the dagger in his hand and swung it around carefully. Finally he looked back at his teacher and smiled. Kunzite's eyes crinkled at the corners.

"These aren't as powerful a weapon as a sword," he informed them all, "but they are a great deal faster and also easier to use at a distance if necessary. The smaller you are, the faster you will be and thus the more efficient and deadly."

Zoisite nodded, his eyes round. The other boys looked slightly jealous. But only slightly.

"Now," Kunzite rose, "Let's get back to training."

The King wanted them in readiness for the future. There were rumors about the distant kingdoms on other worlds. Rumors about aliens with unnatural lifespans and demonic powers. Rumors about machines that looked like humans, and people who could control the very weather - even rumors that there was a band of supernatural soldiers who served the mystical, legendary monarchs on other planets. Dangerous rumors. And they made the king of Earth very anxious.

Kunzite was to train these four rag-tag children to be the best warriors Earth had seen - they must become men who would be able to lead armies, charges, raids - to make decisions that would affect the entire world. It was heavy task indeed.

And for a teenager who had only ever wanted to be a protector - a lawman - it was a task not entirely to his liking.


	4. Chapter 4

**Memento Mori**

Chapter Four

"You're only nice when Luna is around. Really!" -Artemis

* * *

"You summoned me, Amphitrite? Chronos?"

Darkness reigned around them in the ancient and deserted throne room of Neptune.

Queen Selenity stood calmly, her pale wings giving off an eerie iridescent glow in the gloom. The Neptunian Queen stood with her cloak gather around her and a young girl, about nine years old, the spitting image of her beautiful mother, half-hidden in her mother's cloak.

"Selenity, we have some surprising news which we felt urgent enough to call you here."

The Queen of Neptune's tone sent chivers of dread down Selenity's spine, but she steeled herself to hear it out. Turning to the fair haired King of Uranus she nodded her readiness to listen to their tale.

The Queen of Neptune gestured to her daughter and the child detached herself from her mother's gown.

"Go and play with Princess Uranus," her mother commanded softly. The girl at once obeyed, though Selenity thought she looked a bit displeased with the idea.

For an idle moment Selenity watched the turquoise haired girl silently approach the other girl, taller than she and fair like her father. The Princess of Uranus had short hair and a short dress that revealed most of her long legs - which aided her in running with more speed and greater agility than princess Neptune could manage in her more proper skirts. The taller princess said something to the shorter one which cause a sour expression to cross her face. Selenity felt slightly amused - she was reminded of the battles that had occurred only four months ago between her own child and the four princesses who'd been invited to stay with them for the allotted two years. It seemed that princesses were terribly competitive and stubborn creatures. All accept her Selenity, she reflected, who was, it must be admitted, something of a cry-baby.

"Selenity," Neptune's Queen intoned, dragging the Queen's thoughts back to the present, "Lord Chronos and I have heard a disturbing rumor from the Silent Planet -"

Immediately Selenity's heart began to beat in fear. She tried to swallow.

"The guardian of the Outer Regions, the one who helps Pluto in her duties, has been summoned back to his home planet by a calling - as he puts it -" the Queen continued, "And he says that he has been called once more to watch over the Destroyer."

"No." Selenity whispered.

The King of Uranus' blue eyes were light, but hard as he regarded her reaction.

"It is something that cannot be stopped," he said, evenly, "You know this. The time of peace had to end eventually. It is unfortunate to live in such times, but that is the way of life."

Selenity nodded, unable to speak. If the Child of Silence had been reborn, that could only mean that her dreams portended the ultimate destruction of this world.

"Do not be so quick to fear the worst," Amphitrite spoke, gently, seeing the fear in Selenity's eyes, "She has not been awakened and is as yet nothing more than an infant. It may be that her awakening will not be for hundreds of years to come. It is not unheard of in the histories, is it?"

"No," Selenity admitted, "My mother told me something similar before she faded away."

"I have read of it," the King agreed, "Though I do not have direct experience," here he nodded to Selenity.

"Yes, you are the only living being to remember the last destruction," Amphitrite said, her expression becoming rather wondering as she looked on Selenity's unchanging face.

"It must be a heavy burden," she added.

Selenity smiled sadly.

"Immortality is both a blessing and a curse," she said, and she had said it a thousand times. Her mother, she recalled, had said it nearly ten thousand. The people of the moon were few, only about a hundred of them were alive to date. They rarely mated, rarely married, and rarely left the moon or interacted with other planets. Selenity, as the Queen and representative, was different - she liked people. She liked mortals. She always had.

"Nothing is truly beautiful that is not mortal," she quoted softly to herself.

"In all events," Queen Amphitrite broke in, "We must make ourselves ready. Our planet's senshi has not shown herself yet, but I am sure the time must be near. Whenever the Guardian of Silence is born, the Senshi of our planet are soon to follow."

"Usually they proceed her," the King put in, puzzled, "I am surprised it has not happened yet."

"We have made the necessary proclamations," Selenity said, "Everyone throughout the Galaxy has been alerted for the signs of a senshi in their children. Already we have had reports of unusual activity on Jupiter and Mars. I'm sure it won't be long before the senshi are revealed. My daughter's guardians will be chosen in less than seven years."

"Very good," Queen Amphitrite nodded.

"We will find a way to help them," the King added, "We will not let them fight alone, whoever they are. Though they will likely have a heavy destiny ahead of them."

"Indeed," Selenity murmured, "We will not leave them to make their way alone."

* * *

The Queen reappeared in a state of intense confusion.

Everywhere around her in the Crystal palace it seemed that chaos abounded. Servants were running around helter-skelter, the court was scattered through the many audience chambers talking and giving ridiculous orders, and everyone seemed to have lost their minds.

"What is going on?" Selenity demanded once her head stopped spinning from the journey back from Neptune.

She reached out a hand to snag a long white pig tail and scooped her seven-year old daughter up into her arms.

"What is going on, Selenity?" she asked.

The little Selenity looked at her with eyes wide in confusion and excitement.

"Mama! There are aliens visiting - I've never seen them before but they have really strange clothes and hair and one of them looks a lot like you - and sometimes they aren't humans at all - sometimes they turn into -"

"Luna?" The Queen asked, startled. She shifted Selenity to her other hip and walked forward to greet the tall young girl who came to meet her.

"Hello, your majesty," Luna called, delightedly. A young man, who looked to be about the same age - somewhere around fourteen or fifteen though the Queen knew he was much older than he looked - jerked his head away from the people he was trying to order around and ran over to greet the Queen and the Princess.

"I'm so happy to see you again," the Queen exclaimed, "But what are you doing here?"

"Well - it's a long story, your majesty," Artemis began, "We meant to arrive much earlier -"

"We were supposed to arrive," Luna cut in sharply, "A full seven years ago, but Someone couldn't wake up."

"I was awake and ready to go before you even remembered how to assume human form, Luna," Artemis countered.

"That is ridiculous," Luna informed him.

Selenity sighed. It had been close to one hundred years since she had last seen the two alien-cats, and the last time she had seen them they'd been in cat form - which she sometimes preferred. She had not, however, forgotten their bantering - a result of their long familiarity with each other.

"How old are you?" the princess interrupted their arguing.

Luna blinked and took a closer look at the princess.

"Well, what a question," she remarked, slightly surprised, "You ought not to ask a lady her age."

"That's alright, princess," Artemis replied, grinning at Selenity, "Luna is about seven centuries old, and I'm about nine."

"She's only a baby, really," he added, to Luna's displeasure.

"I'm seven too and I'm not a baby!" princess Selenity declared. Luna colored and tried not to laugh at Artemis's expression.

"There you are, Artemis, I hope you are properly ashamed of yourself," Selenity said with a smirk.

Artemis rolled his eyes.

"I'm out-numered in this palace full of women," he muttered, "It's not fair."

Queen Selenity and Luna laughed, and at Luna's questioning glance she handed the princess to her. Luna held Selenity gently and shifted to bear her slight weight more easily on one hip.

"My name is Luna, little one, and I'm to be your gaurdian's partner." she said.

"You are very beautiful, Luna." Selenity informed her, "Almost as beautiful as mama."

"Obviously the child has an eye-sight deficiency," Artemis mumbled. Luna stepped on his foot and Selenity stuck out her tongue at him.

"You and I are going to be very good friends," Luna laughed at the little princess, "I can tell."

"Yes," Queen Selenity smiled, patting Artemis' shoulder. Though the two cats were well over five hundred years old, they were still relatively teenagers in their emotional development.

"So you've come because you felt the call?" the Queen asked.

Luna and Artemis immediately sobered.

"Yes," Artemis replied, "We were awoken from our second sleep by the call. The new guardians of the princess are soon to be found - which means that there's trouble ahead."

"That's true," Selenity sighed, "I remember in my youth mother told me I was the first princess ever to be born without senshi. We didn't need them you know - "

"The thousand year peace," Luna nodded, "but now - it must mean that peace is threatened - if we're here. We cats are only awakened to train the new senshi leaders. Though I must say," she added, "I am rather excited."

"Me too," Artemis admitted, smiling, "I've heard the stories about your mother's senshi, but I never thought I would get the chance to train some first hand. I wonder who my partner will be."

"Someone beautiful and strong - like the goddess of Mars," he continued, his eyes glassing over with visions of glory.

"Likely it'll be someone air-headed and clutzy," Luna muttered.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to wait and find out," the Queen said, smiling.

"For now you are very welcome to the Moon."

"And besides," she added as the cats smiled in unison, "I need someone to help baby-sit Selenity."

* * *

For seven years the darkness grew from a small bubble into a large gulf - swallowing the demon inside of it - harnessing her power - creating an incarnation with which to touch the world once more. The thousand year peace would be shattered soon. Her imprisonment by the gods would finally be at an end.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Memento Mori**

Chapter Five

"You're saying we can't be Cupids, even though we're working for love and justice?!" - Minako

* * *

Seven years had caused a great many changes in the Universe.

For instance, Mercury reflected, the Earth had sent an emissary to the Moon to discuss details of a permanent peace and neutrality agreement, and an open border policy between the two worlds. In other words, the Earth wanted to know everything that was going on with the Moon, but didn't want the Moon to have a clue of things on Earth.

Another example was herself.

In seven years, after minor adjustments each year by her creator, she was now blessed with the body of a fourteen year-old girl. And she had added emotional enhancements at her own request, including the ability to make her generator pump go faster or slower at will - in order to mimic human heart beats.

It had been a year since the Queen of Mercury, Athena II, had publicly proclaimed Mercury to be her intended heir to throne. Of course, no one knew that she wasn't human.

The Queen had carefully constructed an elaborate background for her adopted daughter that involved the android being the natural daughter of a cousin. After the death of the Queen's child, Princess Hermia, the Queen had sent for Mercury out of pity and raised the girl as her own child. And now she was both officially adopted and officially recognized as the princess of Mercury. And just in time, too.

Today was the ceremony for the choosing of the Moon Princess's guardians. It was such an auspicious event (taking into consideration that it hadn't occurred for the last thousand years) that every royal family that could be spared was expected to make an appearance one way or another.

Mercury sped her heart beat up in anticipation and practiced smiling in the mirror of her bedroom compartment.

She didn't really need or want a mirror, as a rule, but the Queen had insisted as it might seem odd if she didn't have one - and the Queen, who truly loved her adopted daughter, lived in fear of anyone discovering her secret. She was sure if the deception she had practiced on the Mercurian government was ever to be known, she would lose the crown - and more importantly, her daughter would lose her existence.

"Are you ready, my dear?" Queen Athena asked, softly. She adjusted the light blue dress that Mercury wore and the heavier cloak that hung around her shoulders.

"Yes, mother," Mercury answered.

"I'm very excited about meeting the princess," she continued, taking her mother's warm hand.

"Are you?" the Queen asked, leading her into the traveling chamber, "I'm glad. I've heard she's very beautiful."

"Is it true that she is immortal?"

The Queen wrapped her cloak around herself and Mercury imitated her actions precisely.

"The descendants of the moon live far longer than anyone else in the Universe, that we know of."

Mercury smiled to herself.

_The princess may understand then,_ she thought.

It was the one fear that Mercury possessed - because she knew what she was she knew that someday her mother would die and leave her alone - but she herself, unless her brain shut down, would never age and never die.

The Moon Princess might understand her fears. Perhaps she could teach her how to comfort her mother before this unwanted event occurred. Perhaps she could ask the Queen of the Moon to tell her the answer to her greatest question - the possibility she pondered over and over again during the long nights while the humans slept. The riddle of her own existence.

* * *

"I've been looking forward to this day for ages," Luna grumbled, pushing and shoving the coverlet of the great white bed.

"And I'll be damned if you are going to ruin it for me by over-sleeping, Selenity!"

With an exasperated sigh Luna jumped bodily onto the bed and began to dig in the covers, finding a round, white swathed bottom which she gave a very firm pinch with her claws.

"Yoooooowwwwwch!" Selenity screamed, jumping out of the bed and falling in a heap on the floor.

"Why did you do that Luna?!" She wailed, "It hurt!"

"That was the idea," Luna answered, wiping her paw as though it were covered in filth.

"Now get up, it's nearly time for the ceremony to begin and you aren't even dressed yet. Your mother and Artemis have been up for hours making arrangements - get up!"

Selenity lurched to her feet and began to search for something suitable to wear.

"We don't have time to give you a proper bathing," Luna remarked, "So go and wash your face and I'll pull your hair up."

In order to accomplish this task Luna shifted for a short moment into her less used human form and yanked Selenity's hair into two pigtails with buns, just like her mother.

"You always pull so hard," the princess complained, "I'm sensitive."

"I'll show you sensitive," Luna warned, and the princess sat up straight and washed her face with the cloth Luna handed her.

"Now, three of the four princesses you met last time will be at the ceremony and you are expected to talk to them and be generally nice and congenial -"

"Oh, no - which ones?"

"Princess Mars, Princess Jupiter and Princess Venus," Luna began and had to threaten to smack Selenity with a claw in order to make her stop groaning.

"But they bullied me," she whined, "They told me scary stories."

"I don't care," Luna replied, ruthlessly, "You will be polite. The fourth princess is called Mercury, and you haven't met her yet. She's the Queen's adopted daughter. You met her cousin last time, who I am told very tragically passed away some years ago."

"Well maybe she won't be as bad as the others."

"Get that cake out of your mouth, you've already slept through breakfast," Luna snarled, swiping the cake from Selenity's fingers.

"How am I supposed to remember all their names and planets if I'm starving!?" the princess shrieked.

"Selenity," Luna sighed, "For goodness sake, their names are the same as their planets. How hard can it possibly be?"

"Oh."

* * *

Venus sighed and tried standing on the other foot.

She was waiting to meet the Moon princess for the second time, and she hoped that it wouldn't take long. From her position on the dias of the courtyard where the royal crowd were gathered around an odd statue of a sword stuck in a piece of marble, she could see that the other princesses had already arrived.

The Martian, Mercurian and Jupiterian tents were all occupied, flags unfurled, and the symbolic tent of Pluto stood ready, manned by retainers of that lifeless planet who were selected from the ranks of other planet's officials. It was considered an honor to be a member of the Pluto Honor Guard, but from Venus' viewpoint it looked to be exceedingly boring.

She leaned down to loosen the strap of her sandal and paused when a shadow fell over her hand.

"Well, it's been some time, hasn't it?"

She knew that voice. Without hurrying she retied her sandal and flashed her visitor a charming smile.

"Hello, Princess Mars, I haven't seen you in ages, my don't you look well?"

"Thank you," the dark princess replied.

Venus noted that she was as toneless as always. Mars noted that the princess of Venus seemed to be as vapid as always.

"I'm so glad you could make it to the ceremony," Venus said, sincerely cheerfully, "I think it's going to be a lovely day for it."

"Yes, so it would seem," the other replied.

They looked at each other awkwardly, Venus searching desperately for a topic of conversation.

"Well, hello you two - still as mean as ever!?" A voice called from somewhere over her shoulder.

Venus turned to find herself staring up at a tall young woman dressed in green and pink finery. The colors of the House of Jupiter.

"Princess Jupiter?" Mars asked, quietly.

"That's right," the Jovian princess smiled, "I'm surprised you remembered me, Venus, right?"

Mars looked momentarily disgusted, and Venus bristled likewise, though she hid it better.

"No, I'm afraid you have us confused," she informed the Amazon, "I'm Venus, she's Mars."

"Oh, sorry," the friendly princess said, "Well, it's nice to see you both again, anyway."

"Yes," Mars replied, bored.

"Where's the other little princess, the little blue-haired one?" Jupiter asked, suddenly, squinting into the crowd.

"If you mean Princess Hermia," Mars answered, sedately, "She's dead."

The other two turned to look at her in surprise, but she didn't seem affected by this at all. They both belatedly remembered how weird she had been as a child. Apparently she hadn't grown out of it.

"What do you mean? They've got the tents set up and everything," Jupiter began.

"That's because the Queen adopted a new daughter some years ago," Mars informed her, "I'm told she looks remarkably similar to the former princess."

"Well, I'll be," Jupiter murmured, "That's too bad."

Venus had lost interest in the conversation and was now staring at the approaching figure of Mercury.

"I'll say she looks like her," she said to the others, "They could be twins."

Mercury approached the others with a shy smile on her pale face.

"I'm Princess Mercury," she said in her soft voice, "How do you do?"

The others murmured similar polite greetings.

"You must be Princess Venus, Mars and Jupiter," Mercury continued, "I do hope you are enjoying the fine weather."

"Yes," Venus answered, "I think it will be a good day for the ceremony."

"I don't know," Jupiter broke in, "I have a feeling that there's a storm coming on."

Venus turned to her.

"But the weather reports indicate that the day will be clear, "she said sweetly.

"That is true," Mercury put in, "There is only an estimated 3.3768959 percent chance of precipitation."

The others turned to stare at her, though Mars stared hardest. Slowly her eyes narrowed but she didn't speak.

"Well, there you have it," Venus smiled, motioning to Mercury, "There's no chance."

"I wasn't disagreeing with you," Jupiter frowned, "I'm just saying that I have a feeling that it might rain. Often times my instincts about the weather are pretty good."

"Do you mean to imply that you can predict the weather?" Mars asked haughtily. This smacked strongly of heresy.

"No," Jupiter denied, perplexed at the other girl's sudden coldness, "I'm just saying-"

"She wasn't saying anything of the kind, everyone knows only Martians can predict the future, as they are so arrogantly happy to point out," Venus broke in with a quelling look at Mars.

"I'm sorry," Mercury said, cheerfully polite, "But that's impossible."

There was a sudden silence as three pairs of eyes settled on the blue head once more.

"What did you say?" Mars asked in a deathly quiet tone.

Venus smothered a smirk at the Martian's expense.

Jupiter merely frowned and crossed her arms - after seven years these pesky princesses still hadn't managed to grow up.

"Predicting the future is impossible in normal human terms," Mercury answered, "The probability of a human correctly interpreting the amount of data necessary to accurately predict the future is not feasible. Humans do not have the capability to process so many variables within a normal lifespan."

Venus and Jupiter took a cautious step away from the glowering Martian princess.

"Are you implying that I cannot predict the future - that, in fact, thousands of years of my planet's culture and history are a lie?" Mars hissed.

The other girls watched Mercury's guileless expression with misgivings - the smaller girl obviously didn't realize she had seriously offended the Princess of Mars and her people.

"Not at all, but you cannot possibly predict the future - you are only human after all."

Mars' eyes flashed red for a moment in anger.

"Is that so?" she said, teeth and fists clenched tight, "Well, let me tell you something; I happen to be the first Priestess of the Temple of Mars and in my blood as in the blood of all our royals, flows the ancient heritage of the daimons who served the god - so you see I am not entirely human."

"I knew she was weird," Venus muttered to Jupiter. The taller girl merely nodded, her eyes wide as she observed the enlarging pupils of the Martian's strange purple eyes.

"And neither," Mars continued, "are you."

Mercury didn't blink or gasp as the other two princesses did, but her face suddenly grew a bit more solemn.

"Let's not be so hasty throwing all these accusations around," Venus began.

"Yeah, I think you two need to calm down," Jupiter said, unconsciously assuming a motherly tone of reprimand.

"What do you mean that I'm not human?" Mercury asked, quietly, her head tilted slightly to one side.

Venus and Jupiter exchanged a glance - both the princesses of Mars and Mercury were decidedly odd.

"You don't have an aura," Mars said snidely, and pointed to something invisible around their heads, looking at things that weren't there.

"All human decedents have auras - they connect with their souls and can be seen and read by Martians," she continued proudly, "But you don't have one, which can only lead me to the conclusion that -"

But before anyone could learn what the Martian's conclusion was the gay trumpets sounded, heralding the arrival of the Princess and the Queen and the beginning of the ceremony. The girls went to their separate tents to sit upon their separate pedestals and await the results of the ceremony and trial - but each of them was vaguely disturbed and ruffled by their recent conversation.

* * *

"Selenity, for goodness sake, don't slouch," Luna hissed as she sat regally on the princess's shoulder.

"I can't help it, I'm hungry," the girl hissed back, "If someone had let me eat that cake..."

"Shush!"

"My friends," Queen Selenity was saying, standing front and center at the silver pavilion at the center of the courtyard;

"I am so happy to see all of you today - it is a momentous occasion. A ceremony that has not been performed in over three thousand years. Not since my mother's time have we had Senshi to guard and guide a princess, but today the gods have seen fit to bless us with this unique and meaningful occurrence once more."

What she didn't say, but what the other royals all heard despite her words, was the warning - if new Senshi were born, there was a threat to the world. There was a need for Senshi once more - they were, like many things, a blessing and a curse.

"Thank you for coming to celebrate this most wonderful event on my daughter's fourteenth birthday - the day she will come into her adulthood and her responsibilities as the heir to the Moon Kingdom and the Silver Millennium."

The crowd let out a tremendous wave of applause and cheers, and Selentity blushed at their demonstrative support.

"Thank you," the Queen said, smiling at her daughter, "And now, I will allow my advisers to commence with the ceremony."

This was Luna's cue. She jumped down from Selenity's shoulder, changing as she did into a human, and joined Artemis, already in human form, in front of the sword and marble.

"Are you ready?" He whispered, and she could see the excitement in his eyes. Her own heart sped up - this was the moment they'd been waiting for - they were finally going to fulfill one of the greatest goals of their race.

"Ready," she smiled and, rather spontaneously, she squeezed his hand. He looked at her in surprise.

"For luck," she whispered. He nodded.

"We will now send the signal to the gods to reveal the chosen Senshi." Artemis explained, his voice amplified to the rest of the crowd by the architecture and natural acoustics of the court yard.

"Will all of the hopefuls please step forward."

They waited, eyes and ears at attention, as a group of about fifty young women stepped into the middle of the court yard. From the sea of faces Luna recognized blue haired Mercurians, the exotic looking Martians, glimmering Venusians and towering over the others - Jovians and Uranians. There were even a few sea-colored heads in the crowd - apparently the Neptunians had found several willing representatives to attend. And of course there were ten Lunarians, especially selected as the most fitting participants for the most honored position of the Moon Senshi.

Luna and Artemis joined hands and closed their eyes - immediately the moon sigils on their foreheads began to glow. Silently they called to the gods they had so recently resided with to kindly reveal their chosen avatars among those assembled.

There was a sudden flash of light and then the crowd gasped in unison as a wave of something shining and cold erupted from the two figures to flow outward - whipping through everyone gather in the courtyard like a sudden ripple in a pond. It was over in a matter of seconds.

Luna and Artemis eagerly opened their eyes and turned to survey the crowd.

"Now, you should be able to feel and see the sigils quite clearly," Luna called, trying to keep the anticipation out of her voice, "So don't be shy, please step forward."

She and Artemis scanned the crowd, searching anxiously as the selected representatives looked confusedly at one another. Suddenly there was a scream from the Venusian tent.

The Queen of Venus was standing up, waving her arms in a hysterical manner and shouting.

"I won't have it!" She shrieked, "She cannot be a Senshi, she is the crown princess!"

At first no one understood what had happened.

"There has been a mistake," the Martian High Priest thundered, "Someone has made a mistake, this is not possible."

"I don't understand," Luna called to him, as she and Artemis walked through the parting crowd to approach the royal tents.

"We made no mistake, what is -" They both stopped dead in their tracks in front of the Jovian tent.

There, looking rather embarrassed but somehow very regal, stood the tall Jovian princess - and emerald signal of Jupiter shone like a beacon on her brow.

"How can it be possible?" Artemis whispered, his eyes wide.

"It's been known to happen before, "Luna answered, shocked, "Sometimes it does happen that a royal becomes a Senshi - but it hasn't happened in -"

"I will not have it!" The Queen of Venus yelled, dragging her daughter over to the group. From the beautiful Venusian's fair forehead the sigil glowed warm and golden.

"Take it off!" The Queen demanded, her face beginning to crumble as she lost all control of her emotions.

Artemis and Luna stared at the two royal children, dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, but it appears that I also have a similar problem," the Princess of Mars said quietly. The sigil flamed on her forehead - impossible to ignore.

"She cannot be a Senshi," her grandfather said, his odd purple eyes flashing in anger, "She has sacred duties to the temple of Mars which she cannot break upon pain of death."

"Venus, Mars, Jupiter," Luna counted, ignoring the outraged royalty, "Where's the fourth?"

As one they all turned to look toward the Mercurian tent, the only other formal tent erected.

The stunned eyes of the Mercurian Queen met Luna's in an instant of quiet understanding. Tears sprang to her eyes as she led the quiet princess forward and swept back the heavy bangs from her forehead. The blue sigil glowed faintly on her skin, but it was definitely there.

"She is chosen," the Queen said, her voice quiet with tears, "I am so proud of her."

She knelt and threw her arms around the small girl, embracing her and weeping silently. Luna watched as the girl calmly, almost absently patted her mother's shoulders.

"Don't cry, mother," Princess Mercury said in even tones, "Please. It will be alright."

"Will it?"

They turned to see Queen Selenity watching them all with an unfathomable expression on her face.

"How can you ask us to sacrifice our daughters, our heirs, to the life of a Senshi!?" The Jovian Queen demanded, placing a protective hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"It cannot be asked, it cannot be demanded," the Martian Priest put in, "You have no right."

"It goes against the law of god, surely."

The Venusian Queen only wept as her daughter's face darkened in frustration.

"It would seem," the Moon Queen spoke at last, "That the gods have chosen a destiny which none of us foresaw. An unusual happening - but sometimes we must allow for things that have never happened before to happen."

"You ask me how I can ask you for such a sacrifice?" she continued, meeting all their eyes, one-by-one, "I ask myself how I can ask these young women for such a sacrifice. But I must. I must ask them, just as I must ask my own beloved daughter."

They all grew instantly silent and Luna felt her knees begin to buckle. The Queen drew Princess Selenity forward and they all saw the Moon sigil shining brightly on her forehead.

"But -" Luna began, she wavered and felt someone put a stong arm around her waist. She heard Artemis' voice close to her ear asking;

"The Princess is the chosen Senshi of the Moon?"

"So it would seem," the Queen answered. She gazed in sadness at her daughter, it looked for a moment as though her heart was breaking.

"So I must ask you, Selenity, if you will put your life aside and take up the honor of a Senshi - to protect our kingdom and our universe?" The Queen asked, her voice suddenly formal and hard.

Selenity looked uncertainly at her mother, then at the other princesses gathered around her, the light of their sigils creating a rainbow of color.

She saw doubt, uncertainty and frustration in their faces - but no fear. The Maritan princess had set her lips determinedly, her purple eyes held a doubtful pride. The face of Jupiter revealed worry, she still had a hand over her mothers where it rested on her shoulder, but there was a light in her eyes that seemed to indicate that she too felt a stirring of pride, and perhaps longing. The Mercurian princess's eyes were hard to decipher, but they watched Selenity's own with a steady, supportive promise - a calm assurance. The Venusian princess's features spoke of inner conflict, but Selenity glimpsed a fierce and almost desperate yearning - as though she scented for the first time all the possibilities of a greater destiny than the one she'd been resigned to - in her eyes there was a spirit of excitement.

Selenity turned to face her mother and met her serene blue eyes with confidence.

"I will."


	6. Chapter 6

**Memento Mori**

Chapter Six

"If we didn't meet Usagi, we all would be alone!" -Sailor Mars

* * *

_What am I doing here?_

Princess Jupiter took a deep, calming breath and looked down at her now bare hands. She had removed her gloves, pale green satin and pink lace, and put them aside to grasp the cool silver hilt of the sword that was stuck fast in a mound of blue-veined marble.

_I shouldn't be here...I'm not a warrior..._

She had never wanted to be anything more than what she was already. Being a princess was hard enough without the added responsibility of being one of only four Planetary Protectors.

She could feel the eyes of everyone in the courtyard on staring at her back, watching as she attempted (at the Queen's request) to pull the Moon Sword out of its resting place. If she succeeded it would mark her as the leader of the Princess's Guard.

She tightened her hold on the glinting metal and flinched as she felt it vibrate from her touch. It wouldn't be too much to say that the whole process thus far weirded her out immensely.

First, to be chosen, seemingly at random, by the god to be his avatar - and a Senshi, no less - would that mean she had to learn to fight? If it came to that, she knew her resolutions...

She closed her eyes and gripped the hilt hard, pulling with all her strength. In her heart she sent a single prayer -

_Please, Jove, not me!_

There was a rumble in the earth and her forehead felt hot again, as it had the first time the sigil had shone itself. She opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

The sword hadn't budged an inch.

Gratefully, but trying not to seem too grateful, she gathered her gloves and moved to one side to stand next to the Mercurian princess as Princess Mars approached the sword.

* * *

The Martian approached with calm confidence.

She was the oldest, and, arguably, the wisest. She was almost certain that the sword would choose her as its wielder - the only other choices were the Venusian (she scoffed to even consider such a thought) and the Mercurian...and _she _wasn't even human.

Mars had realized almost immediately that there was something different about Mercury - something inhuman and cold. She wasn't flesh and blood, of that Mars was sure. But then, she held the sigil of the gods on her forehead - only a human being, only a being with a soul - could be chosen by the gods. But she saw no auras to indicate that Mercury possessed a soul..so how had it been possible?

And more importantly, if Mercury wasn't human...then what was she?

Mars wondered, briefly, if she should attempt to banish the odd girl in front of her with a well placed command - but decided that under the circumstances this might appear rude.

Dismissing the problem for the moment, she focused instead on the much larger issue at hand. Pulling the Moon Sword from the marble.

She closed her eyes, and with hardly any effort, willed her spirit into silence and calm. She reached out and took a firm grip on the weapon, noticing the faint buzzing sensation it produced in her palm. Focusing all her energy and spirit into this one movement she pulled with all her strength on the hilt.

There was a flare and a gasp and she opened her eyes.

The sword had moved an inch, but it hadn't come out.

_I'm not the leader?_

She stared at it in wonder as the Venusian princess turned to take her place.

* * *

_Please, mother Aphrodite, sister Psyche, please by all the goddesses and demi-goddesses of love and beauty - please don't let it be me..._

All her life it had been natural for Venus to assume command - she was bossy, yes; sometimes even impetuous, but this was the one time in her life that she had never wanted to be further from the role of leadership.

_If it's me -_ she thought, gazing in anxiety at the winking silver hilt - _If it's me - I don't know what I'll do..._

She knew what it would mean to take on the role of leader of the Senshi. She would have to shoulder responsibility - and that was something she wanted no part of.

It was fine to order people around, to manipulate those who's wills were weaker - especially when she did it for their own good - but to be in charge of commanding these specific women? All princesses and Senshi - it was almost the definition of competitive stubborn mule-headedness.

And the future that had gleamed so brightly? If she were a Senshi she would be noticed, she would be a star in a galaxy of lesser stars - people would look up to her and vie for her love and attention. People would love her simply for who she was - the position that she owned. And perhaps if they were all lucky, which she suspected they would be, they would never have to actually fight!

But if she were the leader...well...

It would probably take all the fun out of being a senshi, that was for sure and certain.

_You better not do this to me, Lady Venus,_ she warned, _Please!?_

At a discrete cough from the strange dark-haired cat-person, Venus squinted her eyes, stuck out her tongue and touched the sword very gently - taking as light a grip as possible. With a half-hearted effort she acted as though she were pulling with all her strength; secretly her toes were crossed.

There was a sudden flash of warmth through her entire body and a dazzling light flooded the small space. When it vanished Venus found herself blinking stupidly at the sword held easily in her right hand.

* * *

_I'm glad it was her_...Mercury thought, watching with amusement and curiosity as the Venusian princess continued to stare at the sword in her hand as if it were a figment of her imagination.

The entire court was staring at her as well, as if they couldn't believe what had just happened. Princess Mars looked ready to have a heart attack.

"The Sword has chosen its wielder," the Queen intoned loudly.

Mercury stole a glance at the white-haired alien cat and saw that he was having a choking fit.

"If you will please step up and put your hand to the sword," the dark haired cat-woman said to her quietly, "It's a formality meant to bind you to the princess."

Mercury nodded and obliged, though it was rather difficult to extricate the sword from the Venusian's death grip.

As soon as she touched it she felt her arm begin to vibrate and felt the electrical wire inside of her hum gently - it was a very pleasant sensation. She handed the sword back to Venus who seemed surprised that she was required to hold the thing.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the Queen continued, "I present to you the new Senshi of the present Age - Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon."

The crowd cheered, though, Mercury noted, some of the members did not seem as enthusiastic. Her own mother looked sad, tired and a trifle worn - but her eyes shone with pride as they caught Mercury's glance.

The Martian Priest and the Queen of Jupiter still looked angry, and the Queen of Venus had been taken to her tent after a fit of hysterics.

The five young women looked at each other uncertainly as the crowd began to disperse. As one they turned to look at the Queen who was having a heated discussion with the two cats.

"- understand," the male was saying, "But how is the Senshi of the Moon supposed to protect the princess when she _is_ the princess!?"

"I don't know, Artemis," the Queen answered, patiently, "But there must be a reason that they were chosen as they were."

"Well it seems to me that this whole thing has got to be a mistake," the female cat argued, "I love Selenity with all my heart, but it isn't possible by any stretch of the imagination that she could ever have been meant to be a warrior."

"Excuse me," Jupiter interrupted them. They stopped at once and looked at her expectantly.

Feeling a bit embarrassed to have all eyes suddenly on her, the tall princess colored slightly.

"I was just wondering, eh, now that we're chosen and everything...well...what do we do?"

The grown-ups stared at one another in an abashed silence while the Princess of Mars rolled her eyes pointedly.

"Uh - well, that is," Artemis began, then stopped and threw a helpless glance at Luna and the Queen.

The Queen gave the girls a genuine and understanding smile.

"I know you are all probably feeling a bit overwhelmed right now," she said, kindly, "Believe me, we're all rather unsettled by today's unexpected events -"

"You can say that again," Artemis muttered.

"But I think it's clear that we're all going to have to work together to make the most of the gift we've been given. Selenity, why don't you show the girls the rooms we've prepared for them?"

The Moon Princess nodded enthusiastically. Of all the young women gathered together there in the almost empty courtyard she alone seemed to think the day had gone rather splendidly.

* * *

"I'm so glad that we all know each other already," Selenity began, leading them back toward the palace and chattering a mile a minute while Mars' face grew darker and Venus continued to get her bearings.

"You see, I remember I didn't really like any of you very much when we were children," the princess explained, candidly, "Except for you, of course, Mercury - since we've never met before - how do you do, by the way?"

"I'm quite well, thank you," Mercury replied politely.

"Excellent," Selenity continued, rounding a long hallway, "Well, I know we didn't exactly get along in the past, but now that we're all grown up and living together and being a team and all that - I think we're going to have a lot of fun! Don't you think so?"

She paused outside an inner chamber that opened out from the hall. It was large enough to hold at least fifty people comfortably and also had four doors - two on one side of the room, and two on the other. In the wall facing the hall way was an archway that led to a smaller hall and another door.

"I used to sleep in the West part of the Palace, but now that you're all here I decided to move my room into the old conservatory, that way we'll be able to be together."

"And, it has a great view of the Earth at night," she added for their edification.

"Wait," Jupiter commanded and the others jumped at the emotion in her voice.

"Let me get this straight, we're going to _stay _here!?" she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well, yes," Selenity answered, doubtfully.

"We're going to, in fact, _live_ here?"

"That's right."

"With you."

"Yes."

"On the Moon?"

"As you can see," Selenity giggled.

Jupiter looked around her and then crossed her arms emphatically.

"Well I'm not going to do it," she stated flatly.

The Moon Princess's blue eyes grew wide.

"Neither am I," Mars informed them all, primly.

"I have duties on Mars that are far more imp-" she stopped herself, reconsidered, and continued, "Far more pressing at the moment than remaining on the Moon with you. I simply cannot tolerate it."

Mercury watched in anxious anticipation as Venus's eyes finally focused.

"That's it," she said.

Jupiter and Mars halted in their ill-timed exit and turned to face her, almost against their wills.

"You two aren't going anywhere," Venus commanded, a new found confidence in her voice and manner. She pointed at them with the Moon Sword and jabbed in the air to emphasize her words.

"You are staying here," at Jupiter, "And you are staying here,"with special emphasis at Mars, "And I don't want to hear another word about it."

"You can't order me around!" Mars exclaimed, "I am a princess and you -"

"I," Venus cut in, imperiously, "Am your leader, and that means you do what I think is best."

Mars opened and closed her mouth in utter shock and outrage.

"Listen," Jupiter said, her eyes narrowing, "I don't want a quarrel with you, Princess Venus, but -"

"Sailor Venus," Venus corrected, "And I don't want a quarrel with you either, but I'll finish one if there's one to be had."

Jupiter was beginning to feel bewildered, and more than a little angry.

"You don't get it do you?" Venus asked, suddenly, eying them both with an intense and somewhat startling expression.

"Don't get what?" Mars counted, "That we can't go home because some stupid sword picked you to be the leader?"

"No, you don't seem to understand what's really happened here. You aren't just a princess anymore," Venus argued, "You're a Senshi. You may not like it - heck, I sure as hell don't -"

The Moon princess gasped softly.

"But the point of the matter is that when you said 'I will' to the Queen and when you put your hand on this sword, you made a promise to defend the Universe and its future Queen at the sacrifice of your own life."

_That's why she's the leader_ - Mercury thought, approvingly.

Mars, Jupiter and even the Moon Princess stared at Venus in silence. It was clear that, until now, they had avoided the reality of what had just happened to them.

"But -" Jupiter began, her lively face growing slack, "But...when will I see my mother? Or my little sister?"

"I won't be able to train with Grandfather," Mars murmured, "I mean, with the High Priest."

"I never thought of it that way," Selenity said, sadly. Suddenly she burst into tears.

"I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!!"

"Oh, for goodness' sake," Mars sighed, and put a none-too-gentle hand on the princess's shoulders.

"It is!" Selenity continued to wail, "If it weren't for me the rest of you could lead normal lives - you wouldn't have to give up everything - you must hate me so much! I wish I'd never been born."

She was now in a heap on the floor, sobbing for all she was worth. The remaining girls shared an awkward and remorseful glance - and one of sudden and tacit understanding. A barrier came down between them in that moment - they all felt a bond, small, but unmistakable, take hold between them and begin to grow.

Slowly, Jupiter knelt beside the princesss and, timidly at first, but then with real feeling, gathered her into her arms as she would have her little sister - even though Selenity was older than she.

"It's alright," she soothed, patting Selenity's back, "We don't blame you. You didn't choose for this to happen."

"It was fate," Mars stated, sourly, but she came to stand beside them.

"There was nothing any of us could have done so we might as well make the most of it," Venus added, though her heart rebelled inside of her. She ignored her feelings and let the Moon Sword slide unceremoniously to the marble floor as she bent over to help Jupiter pat the forlorn princess. Mercury came last and put a gentle hand on the princess's head, and, with great good will, patted her as she might have a dog.

The princess let out a shaky breath.

"I suppose that's true," she said at last, while tears continued to fall silently down her face, "I mean, what are the odds that I would be chosen to be my own personal guardian, and that only the princesses of their respective planets would be my Senshi?"

"About one in three point five billion, seventy-five million, nintey-three thousand and fifty-two," Mercury answered, promptly.

The others blinked at her.

"And that's something else that doesn't make sense," Mars began - but Mercury held up a hand.

"I suppose, since we are all to be companions," she said, regarding them solemnly, "that I ought to tell you that I am not entirely human."

"I thought so," Mars snapped, her eyes slitting; unconsciously she moved to stand a bit closer to Selenity. The others just continued to stare.

"So, what are you?" Jupiter asked, a bit timidly.

Mercury smiled and said, "I'm an Automated- Fully Synthesized -Simulated Human Interelational Protoype, model number one. An -"

"Android," Mars finished.

"You're a robot?!" Jupiter gulped, almost squeezing the life out of the Moon Princess in her surprise.

Mercury frowned slightly, "No, I am an Aut-"

"Right, right," Jupiter stuttered, "I got that - it's just...I don't get it."

"You're an android, really?" Selenity asked; her tone suggested more wonder than surprise or fear.

"That's so amazing!"

"Yes," Mercury answered, smiling diffidently.

"Does your mother know?" she pursued.

Mercury's smile broadened.

"Of course. She is the one who named me and adopted me. I love her."

"You love her?" Mars questioned, rather sharply "Do you know what love is?"

Venus, silent through this exchange, watched closely as Mercury considered for a moment before replying.

"Love is the feeling humans have toward one another that constitutes a firm attachment between them, and is usually expressed by extreme loyalty, thoughtfulness, and consideration. It is a willingness to put another before oneself."

"Wow, I guess she does know," Jupiter exclaimed.

"Yes, but do you feel it?" Mars countered, "I mean, can you feel without a soul?"

"What is a soul? Where is it found?" Mercury asked in turn.

Mars was, for once, silent.

Venus smiled up at Mercury and extended her hand.

"Well, I for one, am completely satisfied. Human, android, alien, even, gods help us, a barbarian Earthling - I don't care what you are. As long as you're willing I say welcome to the family!"

Mercury took her hand reticently but seemed pleased when Venus gave it a firm shake.

"Does this mean we are friends, Princess Venus?" she asked.

"Call me Venus," she replied, cheerfully, "And since we'll be living together, possibly for the rest of our lives, I think it would be in our best interests to be friends - don't you?"

"Indeed, Venus" Mercury nodded, happily.

"You are the first friend I've ever had."


	7. Chapter 7

**Memento Mori**

Chapter Seven

"I didn't expect you to be able to keep up with me." -Sailor Uranus

* * *

Queen Selenity closed her tired eyes for a moment.

"Let me understand this," she spoke, wearily, "Not only have the gods chosen my own daughter as the Senshi of the Moon, as well as the heirs to their respective planets as the primary Senshi, but now you're telling me that Neptune and Uranus' Senshi have also been revealed as their planets' princesses?"

"Yes, my Queen."

The odd looking woman with dark hair and eyes inclined her head. The Queen sighed.

"This is too much."

The Queen, after suffering through the exhausting task of convincing the rulers of Mars, Jupiter and Venus to let their heirs remain on the Moon (in effect, an unspoken promise consecrating and thus relinquishing their children to a life of great difficulty), she now had to face the reality that the further-est planets had chosen their Senshi as well - which meant that the time of the Destroyer was near.

Standing before her was a figure more terrifying than she at first appeared to be. She looked like an ordinary, albeit very beautiful woman, but she was in fact one of two beings set aside since the beginning to guard and watch over the Destroyer - Saturn's heir. Her name was Ops.

"It is a heavy burden, my Queen," Ops conceded, flicking the long, semi-transparent black veils she wore around her.

"But it is one which we must shoulder."

The Queen heard the weariness in Ops' voice and silently reprimanded herself for her selfish whining. The heaviness of her destiny was nothing compared to the burden of the being before her.

"Tell me more."

"The child of Ruin is seven years of age now," Ops replied, her breath stirring the veils of her face slightly, "And still unawakened. Capricorn guards her as he has always done, but he says that there is nothing unusual in her behavior thus far. We keep her sequestered in Titan Castle, and she is a very ordinary child. Rather solemn."

Selenity felt a pang at the thought that the child, through no fault of her own, must be forced to live alone with only the two guardians for company until her terrible destiny was done. Ops, unaware of her Queen's wondering thoughts, continued:

"The children of the Sky and the Ocean are awakened as Senshi, which is disturbing, but not tantamount to destruction."

"Yes, they were not supposed to be reborn, let alone awakened. My mother told me as much... All of it goes so fast."

The Queen sighed and sat up.

"It is true that the three talisman bearers must be together for the - for Saturn to awaken," she murmured, "And the others are only children still."

"They are young women, my Queen," Ops corrected, mildly, "They are both two years past the age of adulthood."

"But you are right," she continued, "The three who hold the talismans must be gathered together in once place for the Destroyer to awaken. And since Pluto cannot leave her post..."

"It can never happen?" The Queen finished, lightly. Her face was grim.

"That is sound logic, Ops," she replied, "But I fear there is something we do not see."

"What is that, your majesty?"

The Queen stood and paced around the small receiving hall, picking worriedly at her gown. She stopped by the window that showed a view of the twirling blue Earth as it made its arc through the night sky.

"I wish I knew."

* * *

"You're crazy."

Neptune smirked at the skeptical tone of her husky-voiced companion.

"I'm not crazy, as you very well know," she replied, primly.

Uranus eyed her with a displeased look - she had her wiry arms crossed on her flat chest. Even though they were near the same age (sixteen) she was by far the taller of the two. She peered down her aquiline nose at Neptune.

"I'm telling you that we aren't supposed to be Senshi - it's all a mistake. Haven't you heard the rumors from Jupiter?"

"What of them?" Neptune demanded, sitting gracefully in a coral carved chair in her balcony room in Triton Castle.

"The gods chose us as their avatars," she declared, setting her pretty jaw determinedly and fixing her only companion with a steady and penetrating gaze.

"That means that being Senshi is our destiny. We have a purpose for being what we are - don't you want to find out what it is?"

Uranus scowled at her and paced in silence. Finally she turned around and took a breath.

"Of course I do," she admitted, "But how can we? No one will tell us anything because they're all scared of the Soldier of Silence."

"I know," Neptune answered, reclining in her chair. She crossed her long legs and Uranus coughed, looking away.

"Is something wrong?" Neptune asked, concerned at the cough.

"Are you chilled? I know it's rather damp in here, perhaps more than you are used to."

"No, no it's nothing," Uranus waved the questions aside, showing just a faint flush along her high cheek bones.

Neptune frowned. Ever since Uranus had returned to visit her in the summer of their sixteenth year, she had been acting rather odd.

Though they'd had a rocky beginning to their friendship - since both were fiercely competitive and stubborn - they'd soon grown very close, closer than sisters now. Neptune considered Uranus her best friend, the closest companion she'd ever had. Their solitary lives and the lack of social interaction with others their age (the populations of Uranus and Neptune not being even half those of the other planets) had solidified that exclusive friendship. They were both inclined to conceal feelings and mutually picky about whom they spoke or interacted with. Neptune thought it was these likenesses that had helped them understand each other so well in the first place.

In the past years they had developed such a close bond with one another that they often knew what the other was thinking before speaking. Also, Uranus was the only person Neptune felt comfortable sharing any kind of physical contact with that involved affection. She endured kisses from her mother and father, and didn't mind children or girls her own age, but she did not care for the all too wondering hands of young princes, or the put upon airs of her fellow Neptunian courtiers and royals. When she and Uranus sat together on the same settee, or, every once in a while, lay side by side in the lawn or inside watching a storm, she felt no distaste for the intimacy or familiarity of the connection. She had always assumed that Uranus felt the same.

It was true that the tall Uranian was even shyer of contact than she, but Uranus never seemed to mind if Neptune embraced her or sat close to her. There were times when Uranus even intiated these forms of affection between the two - something Neptune hadn't seen her do with anyone else. Well, not sincerely - the girl did like to joke and flirt occasionally. Uranus especially enjoyed taking advantage of her slim frame, handsome face, and her brother's clothes to fool a ridiculous royal or two into fancying herself infatuated with the Princess. It didn't help that they were surrounded by obsequious servants and prattling, shallow courtiers who would look on intimacy as a way to curry favor.

But now things were suddenly and inexplicably changed. Ever since Uranus' arrival Neptune had sensed an odd distance between them. There were times when she sat a certain way, or when she dressed a certain way, that she caught Uranus looking at her with an odd expression she'd never seen before. Sometimes when she touched Uranus' arm, the other girl would give a cough and flinch away. And she was less and less inclined to sit with Neptune, or to lie with her on the grass - in fact, all the girlish and sisterly intimacy they had once known was becoming strained. Whenever Neptune had thought to bring it up Uranus always blushed and changed the topic. But Neptune thought her eyes looked almost sad, perhaps even wistful?

But she knew, better than anyone, that Princess Uranus wouldn't admit she had any problems until she was good and ready to - and then, only on her own terms. So Neptune continued to pretend she didn't notice the change and to wait patiently for Uranus to let her in on the secret.

"Well," she resumed her topic, "I think we ought to investigate on our own, since no one else will tell us. And I think the first thing we should figure out is; who is the Soldier of Silence?"

Uranus' blue eyes flashed.

"It all seems to boil down to that," she agreed reticently, "There's something about her that makes it dangerous for us. I heard father speaking about it once, when he thought I couldn't hear."

"What did he say?" Neptune pounced eagerly. Uranus smiled in spite of herself and leaned closer to her companion.

"He said," she murmured, "That if all of the talisman bearers were gathered in one place it would wake the Soldier of Silence. And I think if she wakes up something bad will happen."

"Who are the talisman bearers?"

"I think he meant us," Uranus answered, "You and me and Princess Pluto. She's a Senshi too, you know."

"Yes; formerly the only Senshi and princess," Neptune agreed, "Though I suppose she can't help that, since she's also the only Plutonian in the entire Galaxy."

"I feel sorry for her," Uranus commented, frowning.

"Me too."

They looked at each other and smiled, the thought unspoken between them was that they were very grateful for each other.

"So what is a talisman?" Neptune asked.

"What?" Uranus seemed to have lost the thread of the conversation and was looking at Neptune with that odd expression.

"Talismans," Neptune repeated, and watched with curiosity as Uranus seemed to snap out of her reverie, blushing slightly.

"Oh, right," she answered, gruffly, "Well, I don't really know what they are - he didn't say anything else about them."

Neptune sighed in frustration.

"Well, first let's find out about Senshi, in particular how to set about being one." she suggested and stood, grabbing the other girl's hand. Uranus gave a yelp and dropped her hand immediately.

"Where are you going?" she asked, trying to cover her reaction.

"To the library, of course, where else?" Neptune returned, her face betraying her suspicion.

"Are you suddenly afraid of libraries or something?"

"No! Don't be ridiculous," Uranus muttered, flexing her hand, "You just startled me, is all."

"Uh-huh." Neptune crossed her arms, her face clearly betraying her skepticism.

"Oh, go to the library yourself, then!" Uranus blurted out, abruptly turning her back on the other girl.

She took a few breaths to calm herself where Neptune couldn't see.

"Uranus?"

Uranus cringed at the tone in Neptune's voice - hurt.

"Have I - is there - are you angry with me? Did I do something wrong?" the other girl asked, softly.

Uranus clenched her teeth and all her rigidity immediately melted away. She turned quickly with an anxious look and seized the smaller girl by the shoulders.

"No," she declared, desperately, "You didn't do anything! I'm not angry, I'm just - just - eh - it's - it's that time," she said, nodding vigorously.

"I'm moody," she added, as if that explained everything.

"Oh," Neptune answered, trying to keep the doubt out of her voice. Then she smiled and impulsively leaned in to kiss Uranus on the cheek.

"Well, stop being moody and start being my friend," she suggested.

Uranus stared at her, their faces still rather close. She blinked twice then took Neptune's hand in hers and abruptly pulled the girl through the door in the direction of the library. Neptune wanted to laugh at the other girl's quick change of mind, but she caught the pinkness still staining Uranus's cheeks and her mirth died prematurely.

What in the world was wrong with the girl?

* * *

Pluto watched events march on through the stream that was Time - a never ending circle.

The end of time - that was when everyone said the Destroyer would come...but didn't they know? Time was eternal. There was no such thing as the End of Time.

Sometimes she thought that Selenity understood this - understood the idea that in order for life and time to continue on their unending circle, death and life had to keep following each other. Without one, the other could not be.

She turned in her blind refuge and listened to the voices in the darkness of time.

She heard the beloved and cheerful sounds of the Moon princess's voice, and smiled.


End file.
